It varies. I have found when sparring purely in savate, that, as a relatively short Heavyweight (6 ft on the dot), fighting people who tend to be 3-8 inches taller, I like to have my dominant side leading, as I find a strong jab and powerful lead kick to be the best way of controlling range and minimising their advantage.

When it comes to situations at work, or in application of clinch or throws, i tend to be pretty much square on, and then adjust footing as an alive variable as I go.

In a 'fence' scenario this allows me to commit to the opportunity, not limit the opportunities presented to me.

I tend to keep my dominant side forward in most cases. However, if I want to pack in even more power I switch back to orthodox so that my dominant leg/fist can deliver even more. But for the most part, my dominant side is foward.

I feel that having your "weaker" side foward you can react slower and/or weaker than if your dominant side was forward. For me, my dominant hand is faster & stronger so to keep it in the front makes more sense to me. Not only can I intercept, block, & parry attacks faster. I can do it with strength and also be confident that my first counter attack will land. Also keeping my weaker hand in the back allows for more power generation so that its not so weak anymore.

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"you're going to work till you wish you were dead and then keep going.."
-Sgt Slaughter

The reason why people lead with their weak side as an excuse of 'light jab then power punch'. That's because they can't punch correctly to begin with.'punch hard then knockout' would be a straight lead then a finishing off cross.

Quote:he reason why people lead with their weak side as an excuse of 'light jab then power punch'.

Really? You know the reason why all people fight the way they do? And the reason is they all suck....excellent.

Interesting, the way I frame up in sparring is usually based a lot more on who I am fighting and where I think I can find a weakness. So it's less about where the power side is and more about if I want to mirror or compliment them.

But if pressed I would say I prefer weak side forward, because I don't know how to punch properly I can use the front hand to set up the follow ups, and gage distance and target.

I often start as I might on the street (God bless that naer needed) with No stance (I am a decent judge of anothers distance and style fair quick, so I start out of their range...generally).

If I feel outclassed I go to weak side, if they dont know me, and send out feelers AND THE LEAD JAB and HOOK are not weak if Trained well weakside (IMHO).

I tend to fall to Rt (strongside) if charged or brutally outclassed, tho my left hand/hip/leg have their own specialties my Rt cannot replicate.

***Long and short of it...I try to start neutral and give no clue. Weak vs. Strong depends if I decide to box a kicker or kick a boxer or go weird and try Ba-Gua where I switch stance so much and avoid to get in right place that I couldnt say I had any stance at all. Retreat can be a fake and my charges can be just annoyance and I use both as Bait, retreat may be setup for strong back kick or 'weak' side footsweep. Charge till you dont believe me and my strong side flying knee hides its "weak" knee or inner sweep. EH... I dont think straight, I dont fight straight:)

-Karl. Peace. The no stance thang coool esp if you casually walk up to someone as tho to tell them something and pop em in the nose w/ a Lt Jab:) ok I'm barbaric but it works, on occasion.

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